Shoe



Dec. 23, 1 969 F. DRUILHET 3,484,957

SHOE

Filed May 8, 1968 INVENTOR. ERNEST F. DPUILHET United States Patent O US. Cl. 36-25 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shoe having a cushion around the laces and, when cleated, also having cushions for the cleats. The cushions provide increased comfort and resiliency to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first cushion is placed inside the instep of the shoe and is provided with lace receiving holes. This cushion prevents shoe laces from becoming loose, untied or broken and cushions every step taken by the wearer.

The sole of the shoe can be provided with heel and toe cleats, with a separate cleat cushion being disposed between each cleat and the sole, thus providing much greater cushioning effect for heel and toe.

The combination of all three cushions provides an integrated tri-cushion effect which not only provides more comfort but provides greater control and safety, especially for athletes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail side view of the toe portion of my shoe; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of my shoe in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a shoe 10 has an instep 12 having split sections to be laced together. Disposed underneath each section and secured thereto is a separate rubber strip 14 which extends along the direction of elongation of the instep and has lace receiving holes 16.

The sole 18 is provided with triangular front (toe) and rear (heel) cleat structures 20 and 22.

A separate rubber cushion 24 is disposed between each cleat and the sole.

The resultant tri-cushioning effect provides the advantages previously claimed.

The cushion 24 preferably extends outward beyond the periphery of the cleat particularly in the region of each vertex with its vertically downward extending member 26.

While I have described by invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described this invention, what is asserted as new is:

1. In a shoe having a split instep with two sections having lace receiving holes which are adapted to be tied together by a lace extending through the holes, two elongated rubber strips, each strip being disposed within and secured to the corresponding section, each strip having holes extending therethrough and aligned with the holes of the corresponding section.

2. A shoe as set forth in claim 1 wherein the sole of the shoe is cleated and wherein cushioning means is disposed between cleats and sole.

3. A shoe as set forth in claim 2 wherein there are separate toe and heel cleats and a separate cushion is disposed between each cleat and the sole.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 75,048 3/1868 Perley 3671 X 2,312,911 3/1943 Jeutraw 3671 2,911,738 11/1959 Clerke 36--2.5

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 36-71 

